Toilets Get Potty Trained with Cool Results

The last time you thought of your toilet as being a cool thing to use you were probably 5 years old and flushing down your mom’s jewelry. As we grow old we forget the benefits of having a toilet that does its job and does it well. But, thanks to new technological advances, a commode could also be a good friend to the environment and could add high-end decor to any household.

As a result of strict water conservation standards, toilet manufacturers are being forced to potty-train their own products coming up with interesting ideas that make toilets even more efficient and safer to use.

Just like gas-guzzling cars in the 50’s, it has taken a little over 60 years for toilets to bring down the amount of water they consume to displace waste; the toilet of today only uses 1.6 gallons per flush, as mandated by the National Energy Policy Act in 1994 (that’s roughly 5 gallons less than when toilets were first introduced for domestic use).

Though by now you are no longer having fun flushing toys down the toilet, you should know that the thrill of knowing how new models work have motivated people such as ProfessorToilet to become experts of the science of making better toilets.

“The biggest advancements in flushing have come since 2003, when the first high-performance toilets arrived on the scene,” says ProfessorToilet, who represents a group of toilet scientists, engineers and enthusiasts at American Standard. “Toilet scientists use sophisticated hydraulic computer modeling to create toilets that can remove more waste, more cleanly and quietly with the least amount of water possible.”

Though he gets to play with cool gadgets and test new toilet technologies at specialized labs, it is the general public who gets to enjoy the real benefits of technologically-advanced toilets.

For example, there are toilets called “dual-flush” that allow you to set the amount of water needed to displace waste. There are models that have slow-closing lids to avoid the unsightly banging sound when you are done using the toilet and even to protect children when closing heavy lids. Others use silent water jets that can remove waste at the speed of light (well, not really but you get the point). According to ProfessorToilet, all of these advances have been made in the name of performance.

“There are many choices to consider in buying a new toilet, but for most people, performance is key. A gorgeous toilet that constantly clogs can get ugly pretty quickly. ProfessorToilet recommends checking the free, independent Maximum Performance Testing (MaP) report developed by John Koehler and Veritec Consulting. Scores are a general barometer of a toilet’s ability to remove bulk media. You can figure out what ‘bulk media’ means. The MaP test protocol was designed to closely replicate ‘real world demand,’ incorporating soybean paste as a test media and measuring how many grams can be flushed, up to 1,000 grams or 2.2 pounds,” he says.

Some of the models that ProfessorToilet has worked on are quite promising. For example there is a line of toilets by American Standard that uses the Cadet 3 FloWise flushing technology and which has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency to be a WaterSense product, which means that toilets must be able to remove 350 grams of waste per flush.

Another technology that may sometime become the standard in the United States is the “siphonic dual-flush system,” which is also being incorporated into some models of American Standard toilets. According to ProfessorToilet, this system offers a “strong push and pull action created by forceful but quiet jetted action under the rim.”

Choosing the right model

Don’t feel ashamed if you had no idea about all of the efforts that are put into making the toilet of the future. As a consumer you just have to trust that manufacturers are doing a great job in making toilets efficient. But, if you are looking for toilets that can make a fashion statement, then you should know that toilets are also valued accessories of bathroom decor.

For example, the color palette for toilets has expanded including exotic choices such as powder blue and cherry, stainless steel and pink, allowing your bathroom to offer a more aesthetically-pleasing experience.

When shopping around for the right toilet model for your lifestyle, ProfessorToilet recommends the following:

• Choose elongated toilet bowls and seats because are the most comfortable ones
• For tight spaces install a round front styles toilet
• For more storage capacity, consider flat top toilet tank lids
• For easy cleanup choose toilets with concealed trap ways behind the bowl
• For a safer and less noisier toilet pick a slow-close toilet seat, especially in homes with small children where slamming toilet seats can literally cause injury
• Choose models with anti-microbial surfaces such as EverClean can help keep toilets cleaner longer

So, the next time you use a toilet, remember that this marvel of technology keeps transforming the way we use our bathrooms.